Thursday, September 17, 2009

i had a wood burning stove growing up (til i was 10). we had stacks after stacks of logs to split. thankfully we moved before it was one of my chores. those stacks of logs were under a covered porch in the backyard. the right side of the porch didn't have a wall. this meant (in my little brain at the time - i was probably 7) that the log stacks were a perfect "ladder" of sorts to climb to the roof. i wanted to bring someone with me on this adventure, and so i chose my younger sister (about 4) to join me. luckily no one got hurt, but the covered porch had fiberglass shingles. after getting in trouble and scolded to get down, we both itched like crazy! i wanted to go back up there again someday, but the memory of that itchiness must have stopped me.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

when i was 6 or 7 i was playing behind one of the couches in our family room when i found a dried up earth worm (no clue how it got there...). i wasn't too afraid of worms, so i picked it up and examined it. i brought it around the house with me trying to figure out what i wanted to do with it.

my brother, jeff, was sitting in a chair in the family room, when i started down the stairs towards him. i thought i'd try a trick i'd seen recently. i hid the worm behind my back and said, "close your eyes and open your mouth and i'll give you a big surprise!" honestly, i didn't think he would fall for it. but i guess he trusted me!

immediately after placing the dried up worm in his wide-open mouth jeff began puking uncontrollably. he ran to the bathroom yelling at me and demanding what i had put in his mouth. he continued to puke but now into the toilet, which made me nauseous. since he was yelling so loudly the commotion attracted my mother. she asked me what i put into his mouth and i told her a dried up worm. "where did you find it?!!?" i told her behind the couch. then she scolded me and told me i would have to clean up the toilet now that jeff was finished. i started to clean it up but complained that i would throw up if i had to keep cleaning the toilet and got out of finishing.

Friday, August 28, 2009

when i was 4 or 5, i would watch my mother cut my father's and siblings hair. i wanted to be just like her! i had cut one of my barbie's hair, but it turned out ugly. i figured it turned out so ugly because it was fake hair (it wasn't my hair cutting skills...). my little sister is 3 years younger than me, so 1 or 2 years old. her hair was a couple inches long and super curly. i wanted to practice my skills on a real person, so i tracked down a pair of "safety scissors" from old school supplies around the house. then i found my sister watching t.v. in the family room. first i asked her if it was okay to cut her hair and she said yes. why wouldn't she? she probably didn't realize what would happen. then i proceeded to carefully cute every lock of hair off of her head. i cut it off as close to her scalp as i could. luckily i didn't hurt her. after i finished, i saw the big pile of hair i had created, and needed to throw it away. so i went to get a garbage can, and got side-tracked. my mother found my sister in front of the t.v. with the pile of hair and assumed it was me. she came and found me and asked if i had done it. my parents sat me down and told me that if i ever did it again, my own hair would be cut short.

a little while later...

while at a friend's house that was babysitting, i found a pair of scissors and thought about what a good idea it would be to cut hair. i found my sister and cut some of her hair. when i got home and my mother saw what i had done, she sat me in the chair and proceeded to cut my hair. i bawled the entire time because i didn't want short hair. she cut it like a long boy's haircut - a "bowl cut." i thought it was the ugliest haircut in the world (looking back on it, i still think it looks pretty bad...). my parents sat me down once again, and said if i ever cut my sister's hair again, they would shave my head bald. needless to say, i learned my lesson and never cut her hair again.

Friday, August 21, 2009

my dad really likes running. in fact, i can't remember the first time i went to the track as a little girl to see what my new fastest time would be. he liked to see how far and how fast i could run. one year, i was either 6 or 7 years old, he asked me if i wanted to run a 5k down by the snake river. it used to be called "bridge to braves" since it was from the snake river bridge to the braves stadium. now it is called "scenic river classic" or something like that. in response, i was excited my dad asked me to run! flattered, even! now, 3.1 miles may not seem like a very far distance as an adult, but as a kid it felt like a marathon. i probably came in just under or over an hour (20 minute miles... i could walk that now). anyway, at the end of the race, they always had great harvest bread, orange and watermelon slices, gatorade - you know - the typical after-race energy food. they also did a raffle where your race number was placed in a jar to be drawn for prizes. my dad, my brother, and my sister all ran the race, too, so we had a pretty good chance of winning something. my brother's number got called first - a BIKE! pretty sweet. my sister's got called next... i can't remember what she won. there weren't many prizes left and then my number got called - a pink flashlight that had a magnet on it to stick it to the fridge. LAME. seriously? a flashlight? i was still excited to win something, i guess. my dad's number never got called. he was curious to see how many numbers were left in the jar, and there were 2 numbers left! my dad's was one of them. man, he has bad luck. at least i won a flashlight.

why, do you ask? i love winning contests. maybe it is a sub-concious self esteem booster. hmmm...

i always liked winning coloring contests. in second grade there was a pepsi coloring contest and i won a t-shirt. since the contest was among the entire elementary school, obviously the shirt was way too big - especially if you know me. since it was my very own t-shirt (my mom didn't buy THIS one), i decided to take matters into my own hands. when i got home from school, i changed into my new t-shirt and got out a pair of scissors. i found where the shirt came to the top of my pants and started cutting. well this proved harder than i thought it would be, so i decided it was a good starting point and took the shirt off. i kept cutting around the shirt since now i had easier access to the shirt. once i got back to my starting point, i had cut the shirt shorter than i had anticipated, so... i needed to trim the rest of the shirt. i kept cutting and cutting until i was satisfied the "hem" was "straight." i put the shirt back on and paraded around my house to show my family my new prize. when my mom saw what i had done (and how this shirt now showed an inch or two of my belly) she said, "you ruined the shirt! it was brand new!" of course i was upset my mom didn't like my "altering job" and stormed out of the room. when i looked in the mirror, i saw how my belly was showing and realized my mom was right. i took the shirt off and threw it on the ground. i never saw that shirt again.